Apparatus and method for treating gypsum

A gypsum treating apparatus including a reactor vessel, an inlet port for gypsum powder and a gaseous fluid flow supply port, the reactor vessel having an inner wall surface with a circular or annular horizontal cross-section or configuration, said inlet port being configured to feed gypsum powder into a reaction region in the reactor vessel, and said gaseous fluid flow supply port being positioned in a bottom part of the reaction region and configured to provide an upward gaseous fluid flow in the reaction region to agitate the gypsum powder accumulated in the bottom part of the reaction region;

• comprising:
• a plurality of stationary vanes extending toward said inner wall surface from a support which is positioned in a center area of the reaction region,
• wherein the vanes are spaced from each other at an angular interval in a circumferential direction of said reaction region and the vanes are spaced apart at a horizontal distance from said inner wall surface to produce a circumferentially directed movement of the gypsum powder in a vicinity of the inner wall surface;
• wherein said vanes are positioned at a level at which the vanes are at least partially embedded in the gypsum powder accumulated in the reaction region, the adjacent vanes being configured to form a fluid path therebetween into which said flow spouted from a bottom surface of the reaction region is introduced and in which the gypsum powder is fluidized by the flow, and the fluid path being inclined to deflect said flow toward a radially outward and circumferential direction of said reaction region;
• and
• wherein said reactor vessel is provided with a partition wall defining said bottom surface of said reaction region, and a plenum chamber supplied with gas for said flow under pressure is formed between the partition wall and a bottom wall of the reactor vessel, and wherein the partition wall has a gas permeability resistance such that a dynamic pressure of the gas supplied to the plenum chamber is converted to a static pressure at least partially and a gas permeability such that the gas is caused to flow therethrough from said chamber into said reaction region in accordance with a difference in a gaseous pressure between said reaction region and said chamber.

A gypsum treating method, in which gypsum powder is fed into a reaction region of a reactor vessel having an inner wall surface with a circular or annular horizontal cross-section or configuration, and an upward gaseous fluid flow is spouted from a bottom surface of the reaction region to agitate the gypsum powder accumulated in the reaction region:

• wherein a plurality of stationary vanes are supported by a support positioned in a center area of said reaction region and are arranged to be circumferentially spaced at an angular interval from each other;
• wherein said vanes are positioned at a level at which the vanes are at least partially embedded in the gypsum powder accumulated in the reaction region, so that the adjacent vanes form a fluid path therebetween into which said flow is introduced and in which the gypsum powder is fluidized by the flow, and said vanes are spaced apart at a horizontal distance from said inner wall surface for a circumferentially directed movement of the gypsum powder in a vicinity of the inner wall surface;
• wherein the upward gaseous fluid flow introduced into the reaction region from said bottom surface of the reaction region is guided toward a radially outward and circumferential direction of the reaction region by said vanes, and the gypsum powder is fluidized toward the radially outward and circumferential direction of the reaction region by deflection of said flow, whereby the gypsum powder is energized in a circumferential direction of the reactor vessel, or movement of the gypsum powder in the circumferential direction is augmented in a vicinity of said inner wall surface;
• and
• wherein a partition wall is provided to define the bottom surface of said reaction region, and a plenum chamber supplied with gas for said flow under pressure is formed between the partition wall and a bottom wall of said reactor vessel, and wherein a dynamic pressure of the gas supplied to the plenum chamber is converted to a static pressure at least partially by a gas permeability resistance of said partition wall and the gas in the chamber is introduced into said reaction region as said flow by a gas permeability of the partition wall, in accordance with a difference in a gaseous pressure between the reaction region and the chamber.